Plant and animal vs petrochemical ingredients

What are they?Plant, animal and petroleum sources are all used to make surfactants. Surfactants are the active cleaning agents in household cleaning products and personal care products such as shampoo and handwash.

Chemicals that are made from plant and animal sources are called ‘oleochemicals’. These are thought of as renewable sources since they can be replenished by growing more plant crops or breeding more animals.

Petroleum is also known as crude oil and is naturally occurring, formed in geological deposits when large quantities of dead organisms are subjected to intense heat and pressure beneath the earth’s surface. Petroleum is a non-renewable source as it takes many thousands of years for this transformation of organic matter.

What’s the myth?This is not so much a myth as a case of over-simplification.

There is a general perception that plant-based ingredients are better than petroleum-based ingredients. The main reason for this is that plants are a renewable source and petroleum is a non-renewable resource.

A secondary reason harks back to the “is natural – is good” myth, i.e. that natural substances are safer than man-made substances. This reasoning is based on a misconception, since in fact petroleum-based ingredients originate in nature, and all raw materials regardless of their origins undergo transformation by man into ingredients that are used in everyday products. Additionally, it is untrue that chemicals found in nature are inherently safer than those made by man. (Click here for more information.)

FACT: The production/extraction of all raw materials has environmental impactsThe issue is not as simple as preferring renewable over non-renewable sources. Without a life cycle analysis, it is not possible to categorically state that plant-based ingredients are better than petroleum-based ingredients. (A life cycle analysis covers all stages of a product: raw material extraction and processing, manufacture, packaging, transport, use and recycling/disposal.)

Palm oil provides a suitable example. It is a plant-based ingredient, but the environmental (and social) impacts of producing the crop have led to very public concerns regarding its use.

Key considerations include the energy requirements, waste and emissions produced throughout the extraction stage and the processing of raw materials into products. For example, researchers have calculated and compared the total energy used and wastes created and disposed to air, water and soil in producing surfactants (the main active ingredient in cleaning products) based on petrochemicals and those based on oleochemicals. Their general conclusion is that there are environmental trade-offs associated with both sources. For example, a study showed that petrochemically-derived surfactant had a better average life cycle environmental performance - withless impact in 12 out of 18 environmental categories - than palm kernel oil (oleochemical)-derived surfactant, including lower air emissions.[1]

FACT: Negligible quantities of petroleum-based resources are consumed for surfactantsThe vast majority of petrochemicals are used to produce fuel. “The amount of petroleum and natural gas used to produce petrochemical-based surfactants is trivial in comparison to the amount burned in our automobiles.”[2]

FACT: Most surfactants come from mixed sourcesAdditionally, it is very difficult to determine whether a surfactant is from a plant-based, animal-based or petrochemical source, as most surfactants have at least some portion that is derived from petrochemical sources. According to the University of Tennessee Centre for Clean Products and Clean Technologies,

“There are really very few available surfactants for use in General Purpose Household Cleaners that do not have a petrochemical component, even if their main raw material is palm or coconut oil…many of the surfactants for which renewability claims have been made have petrochemical components."[2]

The bottom line? The issue of plant- and animal-based vs petrochemical based surfactants is not clear cut, as there are environmental trade-offs associated with the production of surfactants from each of these sources.It could also be argued that this is not necessarily a highly significant issue, given the very small percentage of petrochemicals that is used for the production of surfactants for cosmetic, personal care and household cleaning products.